HMV faces administration for a second time

High street retailer HMV look set to enter administration for the second time in its history.

The games, music and DVD retailer filed a notice last week declaring that it intends to appoint an administrator following, according to GamesIndustry.biz, “Failed talks with suppliers”.

The troubled chain, which employs roughly 2,200 people, entered administration before, in 2013, from which it was rescued by current owner Hilco Capital, after renegotiating deals with its suppliers. GamesIndustry.biz quoted HMV chairman Paul McGowan: “HMV has clearly not been insulated from the general malaise of the UK High Street and has suffered the same challenges with Business Rates and other government-centric policies which have led to increased fixed costs in the business. Business rates alone represent an annual cost to HMV in excess of £15m. Even an exceptionally well-run and much-loved business such as HMV cannot withstand the tsunami of challenges facing UK retailers over the last 12 months on top of such a dramatic change in consumer behaviour in the entertainment market.”

The news marks 2018 down as an annus horribilis for high street retailers, which saw a succession of high-profile chains fail. Among those were a number which sold significant amounts of videogames, notably Toys R Us and Grainger Games.

It has been reported that accountancy firm KPMG is ready to execute the administration, which could swing into operation within days. For further information, you might want to keep an eye on HMV’s website.

Steve Boxer has been writing about videogames since the early 1990s. His first console was an Atari VCS, and he misspent most of his youth in the 1980s in the arcades. As well as for Green Man Gaming, he can be found writing for The Guardian, Empire, TechRadar and Pocket-Lint. He’s currently having trouble deciding whether his favourite console is his Xbox One X or his Switch, and plays a wide range of games, but especially RPGs (he loves a good JRPG) action-adventure titles, shooters of all descriptions and driving games. Follow him here.